


If You Give a Moose a Cookie

by rivlee



Series: Live Fast, Die Old [5]
Category: Spartacus Series (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-23
Updated: 2012-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-16 22:16:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/544435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivlee/pseuds/rivlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Moose came into their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	If You Give a Moose a Cookie

**Author's Note:**

> Title obviously ripped from _If You Give a Moose a Muffin_ and _If You Give a Mouse a Cookie_.

There was a whole list of things Auctus adored about Duro. The fact that he considered a romantic lunch date as two sub sandwiches on a park bench was high on that list. Duro was simple in beatufiul, glorious, and fascinating ways. He was the type who found magic in the mundane. He would’ve made a hell of a Pre-School or Kindergarten teacher in Auctus’ opinion, but Duro seemed to like his job. When he wasn’t at _Bleat Beats_ selling records, merch and inappropriate garden gnomes, he was touring as a tech or moonlighting as a sound guy. He was happy with that life and made no noise about doing something different. Auctus spent half his time with the city’s social elite and its climbers. Duro was like a whole new atmosphere of fresh air and sincerity.

“Stop thinking about your commission for the art council,” Duro said. He nudged Auctus with the toe of his raggedy Converse. “It’s for a good cause even if you have to shoot the shit with Varinius.”

“He’s a vile jackass,” Auctus argued.

“Who is paying a hell of a lot of money for your work. A work which will help build a new women’s shelter. It’s worth it,” Duro said.

“Who gets an honest-to-god bust of themselves made these days?”

Duro smirked. “Vile jackasses with too much money.” 

Auctus leaned into Duro’s shoulder and softly laughed in agreement. They couldn’t do much else out here on a bench. It was still a gift to have this time. The park was relatively quiet; just them, some older couples, a small guided tour group, and the pigeons eager to eat the crusts of their sandwiches. 

Duro suddenly sat up, jarring Auctus’ from his comfortable position. 

“What the fuck is that?” He stared intently at something over Auctus’ shoulder. 

Auctus turned his head. It looked like an oversized rat. He told Duro the same.

“That is not a rat, it’s a,” he paused and squinted his eyes. “Holy shit, it’s a puppy.”

Duro ripped off part of his sandwich and immediately walked over to the dog as if he’d never heard of worms or rabies. 

Auctus followed after him. “Duro, you don’t hand feed wild animals,” he said.

“It’s just a baby,” Duro argued. “It’s tiny, Auctus. It’s barely bigger than my hands.”

A little brown snout peeked out of the bush and its tan-and-pink nose sneezed before taking the food.

“Give me your coat,” Duro said.

“What?” Auctus asked. He wondered why the world had suddenly gone insane.

“Fine,” Duro sighed. He started to peel off his shirt and no, Auctus was sure there were rules against showing that much skin in public.

“Christ, Duro, put your shirt back on,” he said as he shrugged off his jacket. He was going to regret this, he could tell. 

Duro blindly grabbed for the coat and patiently made little clicking sounds under his tongue. Finally a little light brown ball of fur and too big ears and too huge paws emerged, sniffing around for more food. It really was tiny, obviously hungry, and too damn trusting because it crawled right into Duro’s arms. 

Clearly the dog needed some sort of life coach because, really, stranger danger. 

“It’s Sunday,” Auctus said. “The vets are closed. I don’t know about the shelters.”

Duro whirled around looking at Auctus as if he just suggested puppy murder. 

“We can’t take her to a shelter,” he hissed. 

_Her_? Already? Really? 

“Why not?”

Duro stood up with the puppy cradled in his arms. “Look at this face,” he said.

He really didn’t want to; there were two sets of puppy eyes staring at him and while only one was canine both were deadly.

“I’m looking. Why can’t we take her to a shelter?”

“She’s obviously got pit in her, Auctus,” he said. “Look at the shape of her face and the ears. You can’t hide that. Remember the law that passed last year? They put any pit bulls down found in this county.”

It was a moment of revelation and suddenly clarity. Auctus was going to end up with a dog. How did this hour start with lunch plans and end with a dog? Nasir and Agron couldn’t take it. Their four cats would try to kill the puppy on sight. Barca and Pietros’ house was practically run by Pietros’ rabbit. Gannicus, no, not ever, no. Oenomaus was allergic to dogs. Chadara’s apartment was tiny and barely fit her and Saxa. Fucking hell. He was going to have a dog.  
“We should get her out of here. She needs some clean water. She’s probably been drinking pond scum and puddles full of piss,” Duro said as he already headed towards the store. 

Auctus took a deep breath and gathered up the trash from their lunch. Once he was done he called Barca. 

“Sunday is supposed to be the one day you don’t bother me with existential problems while I grade papers,” Barca said by way of greeting. 

Auctus needed to invest in friendships with people he hadn’t known for over a decade or dated. 

“Do you have a leash I can borrow?”

“Auctus, I know we are extremely close but there are certain things I never wish to learn about your and Duro’s sexlife,” Barca said.

The thought of trying to keep Duro down was almost comical. He was never, ever still.

“I? What? No, like I’d risk him choking to death while fighting restraints. No, I mean an actual leash for a dog.”

“Why do you need a leash?” 

There was no way to avoid the truth, even though he’d be mocked endlessly for it. 

“Duro found a puppy.”

It was suspiciously quiet on Barca’s side of the conversation.

“You’re laughing at me, aren’t you?” he asked.

A strangled laugh leeched through. “Tears may be coming out of my eyes. I take it he’s already convinced you to keep it?”

“He hasn’t said as such yet. We’re taking it to the vet tomorrow, I guess. No, I know. I’m not having him roll around with the puppy before it’s checked out. We’ll see what happens from there. Duro swears it’s part pit bull and apparently that’s a no go in this county.”

Barca made a sound of agreement. “If they’re not claimed within two days by an owner, they’re killed. Pietros, Duro, and Naevia all protested the ban last year. They even organized a march, but you know how it is.”

“Animals shouldn’t have to pay for human mistakes,” Auctus said. 

“I don’t disagree,” Barca said. “I think Mira still has some of Bruiser’s puppy crap lying around. I’ll ask her before I stop by.”

Auctus winced. If Barca witnessed just how far gone Duro was already with the puppy, and Auctus with Duro, he’d never know pride again.

“You really don’t have to do that, Barca. I wouldn’t want to ruin the one day you and Pietros both have off.”

“And deny Pietros the chance to play with Duro’s new dog? Oh no, this will be worth getting dressed for.”

Barca hung-up before Auctus could argue. The day was going so well too. 

 

***********************

 

A day, one vet visit with confirmed round worms, two trips to the pet store, and three facebook postings trying to find an owner later, Auctus realized that he really was going to have a dog.

It didn’t bother him. He’d always had pets. Hell, he rescued Archimedes from the park with his broken wing. When he tried to reintroduce him the wilderness, the pigeon stayed put knowing damn well where to get the good food. Auctus even purposefully left his coop unlocked in case he wanted to escape but the bird was a stubborn as his adopted owner. So, no, he really wasn’t bothered with having a puppy. He just knew he didn’t quite have the time or patience for house training. That would all be Duro’s side.

Duro hadn’t broached the subject of ownership yet. It was possible he never would out of some misguided fear or concern he was asking too much. Auctus didn’t know how to explain that Duro could, honestly, ask damn near _anything_ of him and he’d see it done. He didn’t want to re-visit those earlier days though, when it all seemed so good so fast and then went to hell. So he’d do this, quietly bide his time and wait it out. 

They were gathered in the backroom of _Bleat Beats_ with Nasir and Agron when the elder Frei, in all his typical glory, ruined a good, quiet nap for the puppy.

“Look at those paws,” Agron said. “She’s going to be a mooooose.”

She came awake with a startled puppy-cry that made all three of them glare at Agron. Auctus was quite proud that he didn’t punch Agron in the balls like he so clearly deserved for acting like the world’s worst stereotypical frat boy. He did it more out of deference to Nasir than Agron, though. 

Agron clapped him on the shoulder. “I feel like we need to get you a t-shirt as a welcome to the club. Duro is famous for bringing home any stray animal he runs across. Brought home a horse one time.”

Auctus scoffed. “A horse.”

“Yup.”

“You mean an actual horse, don’t you?”

Agron nodded. “It was when we still lived in the countryside. One of the neighbor’s horses got out and somehow Duro convinced it to follow him home. Ms. Travis was pretty fucking happy someone found Midnight before she got hurt. That’s our Duro, though. He’s like the Stray Animal Whisperer or some shit. Dad tried to get him to do vet tech training.”

Auctus didn’t ask why Duro didn’t follow that path. Parts of Duro still remained a mystery and even though Agron was the best source of information, Auctus didn’t want to overstep any lines. He had a feeling he would just piss off Agron if he did. It was like Agron was testing him each time he offered a morsel of history. He respected Duro enough to allow him his past. 

“You don’t think this is a slight problem, bringing home all the strays?” he asked instead. 

Agron shrugged. “He does always try to find the rightful owners first. If he can’t, he tries to find anyone he deems worthy to adopt. If that still doesn’t work, he’ll take it to a shelter after it has had check-ups and shots.”

Laughter and the puppy’s bark made them both turn around. Nasir and Duro were playing keep away with a tennis ball and the puppy looked pissed off as she ran and dodged between the two. 

Agron patted him on the shoulder. “I suggest you stock up on dog biscuits.”

**********************

Auctus woke to the smell of coffee and what sounded like an elephant running the length of his kitchen.

“Moose, no, quiet,” Duro admonished.

Auctus forced his eyes open to watch as Duro attempted to balance a cardboard tray of coffee, a bag of bagels, and an untrained puppy on a leash. His heart shouldn’t be beating that fast at one second of that smile. This man was going to completely ruin him.

“So, you’ve named her then,” he said.

Duro visibly jumped as he sat down the coffee and food. He unhooked the leash and turned to Auctus. “Agron was right about her paws. Moose just seems to fit.”

“But she’s not a moose.”

“Nope, she’s a mutt, but she’s my Moose for now. She might be someone else’s Lucy or Spots or Socks or something later. For now, though, she’s just Moose.”

Moose yipped in agreement. 

Auctus slipped out of bed and wrapped his arms around Duro’s waist. He pressed a kiss into his hair and took a deep breath of his scent. He wished all mornings could start just like this. 

“She’s always going to be your Moose. What’s this later bullshit?”

“I can’t really keep her at my place,” Duro admitted. 

He sounded so defeated that Auctus had to hide his smile. “Duro, your apartment can barely fit _you_. You can’t have a dog there,” he agreed. 

“I could,” Duro argued. “She’s a healthy puppy, minus the worms which were to be expected. She’s happy. She’s friendly. It’s been two days and no one’s come forward to claim her. I won’t take her to the shelter.”

Auctus highly doubted Duro put much effort into the search. The second he realized it was an abandoned puppy, this was over. He tightened his arms around Duro before he moved to the table and the siren song of fresh coffee.

“You’re going to have to help me move all the dangerous chemicals and lock-up the canvas and my more expensive pencils, brushes, and kits,” he said. “I absolutely will not allow her near the studio or on the office floor of the building. I will expect you to take her to the vet, on at least half of her daily walks, and pay for half her food. Also, you’re doing all the house training.”

Duro actually look stunned. “Auctus, you don’t have to do that.”

Auctus rolled his eyes. “Duro, it’s not like I’ve never had a dog before. Moose needs a home and one with decent space. She is going to be huge.”

Duro looked out towards the balcony. “What about Archimedes?”

“If my pigeon can stand being handled by Chadara on a regular basis, I am sure he can handle a dog.”

Moose took that moment to sit herself down over Auctus’ feet. The decision was clearly made. 

Auctus held his hand out to Duro. “Come eat before your coffee and bagels go cold.” 

Duro wavered only for a moment; the wild look he always got when he felt things were going too well too soon clear in his eyes. Auctus almost held his breath. He knew they would and could get through a bout of Duro’s uncertainties again but he’d never welcome it. He didn’t have to worry this time. A truly magnificent grin broke out on Duro’s face before he joined them. 

Much later Auctus drowsed on his bed with Duro sleeping on top of him and Moose at his feet. He could hear Archimedes cooing as he rooted through his food dish. He ran his fingers down Duro’s back, tracing patterns and paths in the soft skin. Duro’s breathing and Moose’s little snuffles were starting to lull him back to sleep. Auctus let it happen this time. All was good and right in the world.


End file.
